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Tech Note |
October 12, 1997
TECHNICAL NOTE 2: TITANIUM FIRING PINS ARMALITE CONSIDERS
GENERALLY USELESS
PURPOSE: The purpose of the Technical Note is to
review the merits of commercially marketed firing pins made of titanium.
FACTS:
- Titanium firing pins are intended to reduce lock time; the
time between release of the hammer and ignition of the primer. Theoretically, faster
ignition of the shot allows less time for disturbance of the rifle.
- Because titanium is lighter than the steel normally used in
the production of firing pins, it has less inertia: a titanium firing pin is accelerated
faster than a steel firing pin when struck by the hammer. This theoretically results in
the firing pin striking the primer faster than a steel firing pin would. Lightweight
firing pins or strikers have been used with bolt action rifles for many years.
- Movement of the firing pin of the M16 type rifles is, however,
only a very small part of the lock time of the rifles. Lightening the firing pin produces
virtually no improvement in lock time. No engineering or experimental data has been
provided which supports a change to titanium firing pins.
- Titanium is strong, but doesn’t handle impact well. For
this reason alone it is less suitable than steel for use in firing pins.
- Titanium is lighter than steel. The steel firing pin retains a
slight momentum as the bolt carrier closes. This momentum normally causes the primer to be
lightly indented by the firing pin, and can cause slamfire if the primer is overly
sensitive. A titanium firing pin has less momentum, causes less indent, and reduces the
possibility for slamfire.
RECOMMENDATION: Demand engineering test data to
support claims of accuracy improvement of any sort. We conclude that the titanium firing
pin is one of many fad items separating shooters from money otherwise better spent, and
recommend against them. A titanium firing pin can reduce the (already) slight possibility
of slamfire. ArmaLite does not sell titanium firing pins.
MAW
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